The Dragon in my Heart
by Silent I c e Vampire
Summary: Tristan has finally popped the question after 2 years of dating Serenity Wheeler. Seto Kaiba, a friend of 6 years, feels a tug at his heart. What could go wrong? SxS
1. Sealed Fate

Hey ppls!!! I'm back and I'm writing another story!!

Unlike L:ASWOOL (Love: A Somewhat Way Out Of Life), this fic actually HAS a plot. The only plot for L:ASWOOL was to get Serenity and Kaiba together, and everything else was just put in there just to try to tear them apart. BUT, I DID plan the part where she got hit with the car, but I didn't plan it to be Duke, it just came out because I really didn't feel like messing with him anymore. (If I didn't kill him off, then Kaiba would have done it for me…)

NE-Way, this is once again a Seto x Serenity fanfic. I'm real excited to see how this will turn out!!! Especially with all you people reviewing me, I loved the reviews for my other story!!!

P.S—Okay, for people that are complaining about what color Serenity's eyes are in this fic…I KNOW THEY ARE BROWN!!! I just want to add a little color to them. (You'll find out what color they are when you read this chapter.)

_**NOTE:**_ Kaiba is _**FRIENDS**_ with the gang in this fic. AND Yami has his own body, but he can still talk to Yugi with his mind IF they are close to each other.

_**AGES:**_ Seto Kaiba—25

Mokuba Kaiba—18

Mai Valentine—24

Joey Wheeler—25

Serenity Wheeler—22

Yugi Motou—25

Yami Motou—28 (He LOOKS 28…)

Tea Gardner—24

Tristan Taylor—25

_Ice_

_(REWRITE!!)_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the show called Yu-Gi-Oh!!!**_

"_You never really know when you're in love; it just kind of comes out when you get up the courage to tell that certain person you've done something wrong." --Ice (Me)_

_Chapter One- Sealed Fate_

"Hurry up 'Ren, you're going to be late!" Joey Wheeler called as he lifted himself off of the couch and went to answer the knocking door.

"Coming!" Serenity Wheeler replied her big brother as she put the last hairpin in her bun-like auburn hair one last time and took a quick look at herself in the mirror before grabbing her purse and walking out of her bedroom.

She hoped that tonight would be the night, the most important night in any woman's life. All of her friends had prepared her, even little Mokuba Kaiba, whose brother didn't seem all that excited about it but was joyous for her just the same. That's Seto Kaiba for you.

She met Tristan at the door, he was holding three roses. One was white, then pink, and the last was red.

Serenity hugged him as thanks and Tristan placed the roses in her hands.

"You look beautiful Serenity," Tristan said as he admired his girlfriend of two years in a dazzling red dress that showed off her curves. Her lips were tinted the deep red of her dress and her hair was up in a bun; a few hairs curling down from it, but the moment was ruined by Joey's nagging voice.

"Now Tristan," Joey started, "don't keep her out too late, I know she's got classes tomorrow. Oh, and hold on," He dashed away and was back before Serenity and Tristan could even move.

"Plus," Joey point to the piece of paper, in which, held Serenity's scheduled work times. "She has to work tomorrow."

"I know, Joey, I know." Tristan sighed as he replied. This wasn't the first time Joey had warned him about the exact hour Serenity should be home, "we won't be late."

"Good." Joey then wished them a great time and, plucking the roses from Serenity's hands and promising that he would put them in water, and _then_ put them on her nightstand in her room; sent them out the door and on their way.

He shut the door behind him and looked down at his left hand and found a glittering gold band of promise there.

"Good luck, Serenity." Joey whispered as he looked around the room at all the packed boxes. He's been married to Mai for about a year now and Serenity made him promise to live with her until Tristan proposed; which would be tonight.

He turned around and watched as the red headlights of Tristan's Honda disappeared into night, the next time Joey would see his baby sis; she would be engaged to his best friend.

Joey filled a vase with water, placed the roses in it and walked to Serenity's bedroom. As he put the glass vase bedside on her cherry wood nightstand, Joey noticed a small notebook—open—on her pillow.

Joey tried to force himself from the room, but his legs wouldn't budge. His arms reached for the book. His fingers turned the pages back a couple of entries and found the typical lovestruck sister that he's known for two years.

He went back more and stopped when he saw Seto Kaiba's named appear in one of the entries.

_September 6__th__, year of 2005_

_It's happened! Tristan Taylor finally asked me out! I really hope this relationship lasts awhile! My friend Seto Kaiba said that he's had a crush on me for a long time. I'm glad he's here, besides Tristan, Kai's the only one who I can really tell everything to. Joey's great to talk to, but Kai always knows something's wrong. I know that Kai will always be there for me._

_Serenity Wheeler_

Frantic now, Joey went back more.

_July 22__nd__, year of 2005_

_It's been about six years since I met Kai. He's actually getting along with my brother; doesn't call him a dog anymore. I'm glad he's changed, but he won't tell me why he's changed. Oh well, I don't want to force him to tell me. Anyways, Tristan still hasn't asked me out, plus, he's being so polite these days. (He's always nice to me.) I've never met anyone like him._

_Serenity Wheeler_

He flipped back more.

_April 16__th__, year of 2004_

_I was over a Kai's today. He told me that "Kai" meant "Sea" and "Seto" meant "Horse." So "Seto Kaiba" means "Sea Horse." I tried not to laugh, but he tickled me so I couldn't help it. He also thought of a nickname for me. Since I call him "Kai" he now calls me "Sere." I like it. Joey calls me "'Ren," Tea, Mai, Yugi, Mokuba, and Yami calls me "Seren," and Tristan's the only one who calls me "Serenity." I love all of my friends._

_Serenity Wheeler_

From then on, Joey just skimmed some more entries.

_December 11__th__, year of 2004_

_Kai's says he's got a big surprise for me on Christmas—_

_August 17__th__, year of 2004_

_--but Kai doesn't think so.—_

_June 24__th__, year of 2004_

_--Kai's getting nicer, but Joey keeps trying to get me away from him for reasons unknown to me—_

_February 14__th__, year of 2003_

_Happy Valentines Day!_

_Guess what Kai got me for V-day? A mini sculpture of and Ice Dragon, It will go nicely with the mini sculpture of the Fire Dragon he got me the year before—_

_November 20__th__, year of 2003_

_--It's only been about a year since I've met Kai. I really hope that he—_

Joey remembered the date from earlier entries of when they met, so, he tried to find it.

Once he found it, Joey tried not to sound so hurt when moving in with him on the same day as they met was barely mentioned…

_July 22__nd__, year of 2002_

_I met this strange guy today. He had dark brown hair and was really tall, but his most appealing feature was his icy blue eyes. Lots of girls flirted and talked to him until he turned around and stared at them with such coldness that I was quite surprised. Then he saw me. For a split second I know his eyes weren't cold at all. He didn't tell me his name, but I'll find out. I know I will._

_Oh yeah, I moved in with Joey today._

_Serenity Wheeler_

Joey went back to the entry that was open before and laid the dairy back onto the pillow and walking slowly from the room.

He had never noticed that he grew so far apart from Serenity over the years…

(I)

"Here, Serenity, take this." Tristan handed her a black cloth, "Put it on, and no peeking." He laughed.

Serenity smiled and tied the blindfold over her eyes, she was glad to see that Tristan was so excited about this.

With her sight blocked out, Serenity began to notice how hard Tristan was really breathing. _He must be really nervous!_ She thought, flipping her hand over so that he would notice and entwine it with his.

A moment later, she felt his clammy hand touch hers and her thoughts were right, he _was_ uncomfortable.

"Tristan?" Serenity squeezed his hand, "relax, it's just a date. We've gone on hundreds of them, I know you better than you think I do."

She heard him give a shaky sigh and his hand calmed, "thanks Serenity."

"No problem," Serenity replied.

About 20 minutes later, Tristan was helping the temporarily-blind Serenity out of his car and she grabbed a hold of his arm as they walked up the pathway to a French restaurant.

Tristan stopped just before they went in and gently untied the knot of the black cloth and lifted it from her pale green eyes.

"Wow!" Serenity exclaimed as she saw the little French attire. "It's beautiful."

(I)

"Come on, Seto! You promised to take me out to eat tonight!" Came the whiny voice of Mokuba Kaiba. He pushed on the back of Seto Kaiba's chair, which only leaned him forward a couple of inches.

"You promised!"

_I promise a lot of things, kid._ Kaiba thought as he continued to type on his laptop, making no notice of his younger brother. His dark chestnut bangs were sweeping over his icy blue eyes and even though it was only about eight o'clock in the night, Kaiba was already tired.

Mokuba huffed and blew a couple of black bangs out of his eyes; he still acted like a child at eighteen.

"Seto!" Mokuba was at the front of Kaiba's desk now and he pushed down the top of the laptop with his pointer finger; it shut with a click.

Kaiba leaned back and rubbed his temples, "If I play a video game with you will you leave me alone for the rest of the night?" He asked.

"No can do," Mokuba replied. "You promised to take me out _weeks_ ago."

Kaiba sighed uneasily, "fine, but."

Mokuba stopped at his race to the door.

"Just the two of us."

"Sure, Seto."

Mokuba had this tendency to match up his twenty-five year old brother with some of his fan girls, and even once by accident, a stalker.

Kaiba turned off his computer and shut off the lights as he walked out of his office.

_I can't believe Mokuba got me into this_. He thought, opening the door to his bedroom.

Kaiba knew exactly where they were going to go. That little French restaurant that he loved to eat at all the time.

It would be the same old thing. Kaiba would be completing his files on his cell phone, which flipped out a mini keyboard, and listening to his brother talk about the things that happened to him in the last couple of days that Kaiba had worked late.

He also knew that the younger Kaiba would be talking about Serenity and Tristan's soon-to-be engagement. He was happy for her, but it was just something about Tristan that Kaiba didn't like. Yes, Tristan seemed innocent at times and sentimental the next, Kaiba just sensed something that wasn't right.

Oh well, it wasn't his engagement anyway…

Ever since Kaiba met her about six years ago, Serenity had been sweet to him, even when he and her brother, Joey, didn't get along too well, but now Kaiba, Joey, and Yugi had created this bond of friendship between them and Serenity was just the life force that they needed to hold them together.

Then the dating began.

She, Yugi, and Joey would usually come over for dinner or to play a game of duel monsters when they were bored and just wanted to be with each other.

It was slow at first; Tristan would come by and pick Serenity up to go out for pizza or to a movie. You know, the plain things. But, it soon was just Yugi and Joey that came over to hang out.

Kaiba soon heard himself asking "where's Selena?" using a nickname that he gave her, and Joey would answer him with a "she's out with Tristan." Serenity's visits were rare, and then, there were none at all.

Personally, Kaiba missed the sweet sound of her voice or the way her hair framed her face, but he would always remind himself of why he was not with her. _She's with Tristan_, he would think, _just leave them alone._

Kaiba shook his head, pushed away his bangs, and snapped out of his thoughts. He just exchanged his blue trench coat with his white one and grabbed his corvette keys, turned off the lights in his room, and shut the door behind him.

Mokuba was already waiting for him.

"It took you that long to switch a coat?" He asked impatiently.

Kaiba said nothing and opened the front door and walked out.

His bangs fell over his eyes again. _You have no idea, Mokuba._ He thought.

(I)

"I told you it was beautiful." Tristan said as he took hold of Serenity's hand and followed a waiter that was showing them their table.

After Tristan nicely pulled out Serenity's chair so she could sit down, and then sat down himself. The waiter asked what they wanted to drink.

Tristan nodded to Serenity to go first and they just both ended up ordering water.

Once the waiter left, Tristan asked what she's been doing lately.

"Oh, not much of anything." Serenity answered. "If you call Joey making new modifications to his dueling deck new, then, well, I just told you then didn't I?"

Tristan chuckled. "I meant with your life." He said gently.

"Um," Serenity played with the napkin in her lap. "I got a new job."

"Really? Where?" He asked.

"At my house." She said sheepishly. "I paint things for the art museum."

"I always knew you paintings were special." Tristan reached across the table for her hand, which was now putting the napkin on the top.

The waiter came back and asked for the meal orders. After they ordered, Serenity excused herself to go to the restroom.

(I)

"Come on, Seto!" Mokuba whined as Kaiba slowly got out of the limousine. "Hurry up already!"

"Alright, alright already." Kaiba shut the door on the limo and it drove away. "Fine, let's go."

"Finally," Mokuba breathed and lead the way up to the door.

(I)

"Calm down, Serenity, just calm down." Serenity wiped her face clean and reapplied her make-up.

"Serenity?" Someone behind her tapped her shoulder and she turned around to meet the face of her best friend Tea.

"What are you doing here?" Serenity asked her as she put the rest of her make-up back into her purse.

"I should be asking the same thing," Tea replied. "I'm here with a co-worker of mine. We're—wait!"

Serenity gave her friend a confused look. "What, what's wrong?" She asked.

"This isn't—Oh my gosh!" Tea hugged her friend.

"What?" Serenity returned the hug, but was still a little confused.

"Has he done it yet?" Tea pulled back and looked at her with hopeful eyes.

"Oh," Serenity finally thought of the proposal. "No, not yet."

"Come on." She grabbed Serenity's arm and pulled her out of the restroom. "Get out there and let him do it already!"

She turned and started to walk away, and then she turned her head sideways and said. "Call me tomorrow and tell me every detail!"

"Um, okay…" Serenity lifted her eyebrow, shook her head and walked back over the where Tristan waited for her.

(I)

"I'll just have a water." Kaiba said as he opened his menu to ready for the next time the waiter came back.

"Yes, sir. I'll have that right out." The waiter said as he walked away. Just as soon as he was out of earshot, Mokuba started talking at once.

"Hey, did you see Serenity and Tristan on the way in?" He asked the eldest Kaiba. "Do you think he's proposed yet?"

_I hope not_, Kaiba thought as he reached inside his pants pocket to pull out his extendable cell phone. At once he noticed her had text message…from Serenity?

_Hey u, r u there 2 talk?_

"_Sent at 2:14 pm. June 20__th__, year of 2007."_

"What?" Mokuba asked when he heard mumbling from the other side of the table. "What it is?"

"Nothing Mokuba." Kaiba said as he worked his way around the keys of the mini keyboard.

Kaiba sent the message and placed his phone back into his pocket.

(I)

Bzzzt…Bzzzt…

Serenity felt the vibration of her cell phone on her ankle as her purse began to move. She slowly reached down and clasped her hand around the little silent noisemaker and lifted it from her purse and into her lap—without Tristan noticing.

Carefully, Serenity read the message:

_Don't answer this, but Moku spotted u and Taylor on the way in. Sry I didn't answer earlier. Good luck with the proposal._

Serenity smiled and replied:

_I'm answering neway. I'm sure if I look around u'll be there. Tristan hasn't proposed yet, so I'll talk 2 u later and I'll send u a text when he finally does it._

Serenity closed her cell phone and looked up. Tristan was taking a bite of his food before talking to her again.

"Who was that?" He asked, setting his fork down.

"You knew?" Serenity replied as she reached down to put the phone away.

"You didn't answer me when I asked a question, and I saw your arms moving."

"Oh." Serenity thought of a lie quickly. "It was Joey. He wanted me to know what time it was."

Tristan laughed and bought the lie. "Yeah, Joey still wants you to be home on time to tell him about the date before he sleeps thinking about it and punches me the next day."

Serenity smiled. "I never told him what happened after that." She laughed, "He still makes cookies for me."

They both laughed.

(I)

"Come on, Mokuba." Kaiba said as he finished paying for their meal with a credit card and left the restaurant.

He noticed that the table that Serenity and Tristan were sitting at had another happy couple in their places.

When he walked outside in the cool night air and saw Tristan open the door for Serenity, she smiled and stepped inside.

Kaiba's icy-blue eyes flashed with arrogance. He opened the door to his deep red corvette and Mokuba got in on the other side.

He waited for a minute until he saw the tail lights of Tristan's car then backed out and took the same road.

"Where are we going, Seto?" Mokuba asked and looked up at his older brother with concern. The Kaiba mansion was the other way.

Kaiba glanced at his sibling, but never answered.

(I)

Serenity took Tristan's hand after he tied the blindfold back on and backed out of the parking lot and down a road to the place where they would become closer.

"Tristan, where are we going?" Serenity asked.

"It's a surprise."

(I)

Kaiba followed Tristan's car to a park in the middle of Domino City. A reflection caught his eye and Kaiba saw the car park and Tristan leading Serenity to the lake which the full moon shined upon.

Kaiba grimaced. Told Mokuba to stay in the car and got out.

A rose garden was along the way to the lake, so Kaiba had to hide his footfalls from the two lovebirds. He cringed when he felt a twig snap, but they didn't notice.

Once out of the garden, Kaiba reached back and picked a pink rose and touched the rose to his lips. Normally he wouldn't do this, but something about the flower calmed him. After all—they were his favorite.

(I)

They sat on a bench and Serenity sighed, feeling so completely spellbound by every emotion that was running through her at the moment.

Suddenly, Tristan shifted and pulled a little black box from his pocket; then opened it.

In the box was a teardrop-shaped diamond, with two smaller circular diamonds out on either side of it on a golden band.

"Serenity," He asked, dropping to one knee and taking her hand. "Will you marry me?"

(I)

Dropping the rose he picked and grinding it with his foot, Seto Kaiba turned around and walked away from the scene. It was over; he could no longer go after Serenity's heart…

…it was sealed away with somebody else…

(I)

Ha, Ha!! Yeah, you know I'm back now!!! Leaving you with a cliffhanger!!! I'm hoping I can get the next chapter out soon, but Marching Band has started once again! I'm been working on this chapter all summer. Yeah, believe it or not. I'm really hoping that this fanfic will be as great (or greater) than my last one!

_Ice_


	2. Broken Text Message

Hello, people!!! I really like this new story I'm writing!! I also have a question for you…_**Did Fanfiction really ban songfics?**_ Because if they did then I have to re-write L:ASWOOL. Thanks!!! Talk 2 ya'll later!!

_Ice_

_(REWRITE!!)_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! You all know this!!! Or the song Holes by Rascal Flatts!!!**_

_Chapter Two—Broken Text Message_

"'_You can't do this! It's not right! You need to rethink and sort out your feelings!'"—Ice (Me)_

Mokuba reached for the vibrating cell phone in the seat next to him. It must have fallen out of his brother's pocket when he was getting out.

He flipped open the cover and selected "text messages" from the menu. "New" flashed up and Mokuba saw that the text was from Serenity. He wasn't surprised; he saw that there was over 500 texts from her.

"It's done! I'm engaged! Call u latr 2nite!"

Sent at 10:47pm—

"Mokuba, what are you doing?" Kaiba snatched the phone away.

"Sorry, the thing started going crazy!" Mokuba crossed his arms and looked at the road ahead of them. He still hasn't grown up.

Kaiba said nothing and started his corvette and drove away from the curb.

_How could you do this?_ He thought.

(II)

Serenity looked into Tristan's brown eyes and began to tear up.

"Oh Tristan," Serenity sank down to her knees and placed either of her hands on the sides of his face.

"Yes, I will marry you."

Tristan smiled and gently pulled her into a hug.

…then Serenity let her tears fall.

After talking then deciding they should go home, Serenity and her new fiancé Tristan made their way to the car.

Tristan opened the door for her and Serenity smiled and got in.

While Tristan was walking around to the other side of the car, Serenity quickly wrote a text message and sent it to Kaiba, then put her phone away when the door opened.

Tristan started the car and grabbed Serenity's hand and then smiled sweetly at her.

"I love you," he whispered.

Serenity beamed. "I love you, too."

(II)

"Seto, what's wrong?" Mokuba asked the eldest Kaiba. He was quiet all the way home and Mokuba was starting to wonder what he was doing when got out of the car a while back.

They were in Kaiba's office. Mokuba came up there from his room just to cheer Kaiba up. Something that happened in the time that he was out of the car and back was eating him up.

"Please, Seto, just tell me."

Kaiba stopped his pacing and slowly turned to face him, putting his hands in his desk as calmly as he could.

"It's Serenity, Mokuba." He answered and plopped down solemnly on his chair. His mood changed just like a snap of the fingers. "She's getting married to Tristan."

"I thought—oh." Mokuba stopped mid-sentence. "But I thought you were just friends."

"We are Mokuba." He snapped harshly. "But…" He stopped again sighing softly. There went his mood swing again.

"But…" Mokuba repeated.

"She's in love with somebody else." Kaiba opened his laptop and Mokuba took that as a sign to leave. Kaiba needed to be alone after what he just witness. Mokuba figured it out.

Once Kaiba was logged on he noticed an IM from Serenity…

_Hey, ur on. Want 2 talk?_

Anger mood back again he typed:

_No. I'm tired and I need to finish this document. If you keep trying to talk to me, I won't answer. I can always change my e-mail just like a snap of the fingers._

Kaiba smirked and logged off his IM, but was still on the internet. He could still see if she responded.

She didn't.

(II)

Serenity was heart broken. After the proposal, it seemed that all of her friends would have been happy for her. But, Kai wasn't. She sat and stared at the computer screen and the message of not wanting to talk. Kai was always supportive. What happened?

She logged off and turned away from the computer, grabbed her diary, which was still left on her bed, and picked up a pen off of her nightstand.

_June 20__th__, year of 2007_

_I'm engaged, but I'm not as happy as I thought I would be. Kai just sent me a IM saying that he'll change his e-mail if I IM him again. "Just like a snap of the fingers" it said. I'm confused, what happened. Earlier when I text messaged him from my phone, he was okay, and even wished me good luck. Which he never does. Something's wrong with Kai and I'm going to find out. I have Mokuba's phone number; maybe he can tell me what's wrong. I better go, with Joey still up; he'll start asking me about the date. I already showed him the ring and helped him pack up a little. He's moving out tomorrow. I'll miss him being here. I'm too upset to really talk about the date right now. So I'll tell you tomorrow, after I help Joey move his things over to Mai's house._

_Confused and wants to know why,_

_Serenity Wheeler_

Serenity quietly closed her diary and placed the book and the pen in her nightstand beside her. Then she took her phone out of her purse and text messaged Mokuba.

_Hey, it's Seren. R u there?_

Serenity waited a few minutes and got a reply.

_Hey, im here. Whats up?_

She smiled. Besides friends her own age, she's known Mokuba since he was twelve and still thinks that he'll never grow up.

_What's wrong with Kai? He just sent me a IM saying that if I reply then he'll change his e-mail address._

She waited.

_He's not really in a good mood. Something happened 2nite and he didn't really want 2 talk about it._

She frowned.

_Y?_

He replied.

_Don't ask me. He didn't tell._

Serenity sighed.

_Alright, I'll talk 2 u latr then. I really hope Kai is ok. Bye._

She waited for a bye.

_Ok. I'll c-ya latr._

Serenity closed her flip phone and put it on her nightstand. _Alright, Kai._ She asked him mentally, but she knew he wouldn't hear her.

_Please tell me what's wrong._

(II)

The next morning, Serenity was awoken with the smell of burning pancakes—Joey's specialty. With a sigh, Serenity got out her comfortable bed and went to eat her burnt breakfast.

"Sorry to wake ya." Joey waved his hand in front of her face to get rid of the smoke smell. "Hey, what's on ya mind?"

"Huh? Oh." Serenity sat down at the small table. "Nothing, I'm just thinking."

"Sure." Joey extended the word. "Thinking about Tristan huh?"

"Oh, shut up." Serenity said playfully and punched him on the arm. _I can't let him know anything's wrong._ She thought, _might as well play along._

She survived her breakfast and then went back to her room to call Mai and Tea. She wanted to see if they felt like hanging out.

After arrangements were made, Serenity took Joey's trunk and went to meet them at the Domino Mall.

(II)

"Come on Seto, wake up!" Mokuba pounced on the end of Kaiba's king size bed and tickled his foot under the covers.

Kaiba smirked and twitched his foot in his sleep; Mokuba never knew that he was ticklish on his feet.

Mokuba the crouched and pounced on his brother like a cat.

"Geroffme," Kaiba mumbled as he pushed his younger sibling off and onto the floor.

Mokuba landed and laid there for a moment, the wind knocked out of him.

When Mokuba said nothing, Kaiba chuckled and said, "That's why we don't act like a cat and pounce on suspecting brothers who weren't sleeping at all."

"Ha, ha. Very funny." Mokuba breathed and then heaved himself off of the floor. _What's with his good mood?_

Kaiba laughed again and got up out of his bed. He pushed Mokuba from his room and turned on the shower. Kaiba was so upset last night after he sent the IM that he figured out that he did one week's worth of documents wrong.

Oh well, he was finished with Serenity anyway.

He didn't want anything to do with her anymore.

_I'm done._ Kaiba thought taking off his last piece of clothing and throwing it aside. He wetted his hair under the showerhead. The cold water slid down his back and Kaiba shut his eyes.

He could always talk her out of the wedding. That wouldn't work; you could tell that she was totally in love with Tristan.

What was life for him anymore?

_There's three in the hall,_

_From those pictures in the closet…_

Kaiba shook his head before any thoughts told him that suicide was the answer, but every time he got closer to picking up his razor and slashing his wrist open.

_Two in the bedroom,_

_From that night I lost it._

He turned the spigot to even colder water; it seemed to clear his head a little bit.

_And one deep inside me,_

_Determined to stay…_

After getting out of the shower, Kaiba felt a spasm of pain and fell to his knees on the bathroom floor.

_They don't get any bigger,_

_But they don't go away._

_Not again!_ Kaiba thought as he grabbed his chest and sank even lower to the floor.

_Holes in and around me,_

_I keep fallin' back into…_

He kept his screams of pain inside of him, it was better to die this way then to kill himself because of her.

_Holes dig in and surround me,_

_God knows what I'm gonna do._

"Se…re…" He struggled out the name he gave her. He was going and there was nothing he could do about it.

_To fill in these holes left by you,_

_Left by you. (Left by you)_

"Sere!" He screamed and passed out.

(II)

Serenity dropped her fork and it fell with a clatter to the plate. She thought she heard Kai call her name, and she felt a dim pain in her chest.

"Serenity? Seren?" Mai Valentine asked her auburn haired friend. Serenity had put her hand to her heart and had a surprised look on her face.

Tea Gardner looked worried and reached for Serenity's shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Tea asked.

Serenity shook her head and began to regain her senses. "I-I have to go." She grabbed her purse and ran out of the food court that way in the Domino Mall.

The last time she had this feeling, something terrible happened to him, Serenity hoped that it didn't happen again. She knew her destination:

The Kaiba mansion.

(II)

_I poured drink after drink,_

_But nothin' hit bottom…_

Mokuba heard his brother scream out something, he thought that he was just yelling at one of his maids. But Kaiba never stops yelling just after one word, not unless…

_Oh, crap!_

Mokuba pushed his chair away from his desk and ran down the hall to the other side of the mansion.

_I've been on my knees,_

_Admitted my problems._

_The love that we made,_

_Is still barely an echo…_

He burst through his older brother's bedroom and heard the steady drip-drip of the shower.

_And I'll try anything,_

_In these vacant hollow._

_Holes in and around me,_

_I keep fallin' back into…_

"Seto!" He called and opened the bathroom door and say Kaiba on the floor, hair still wet from the shower he took.

_Holes dig in and surround me,_

_God knows what I'm gonna do._

_To fill in these holes left by you,_

_Left by you. (Left by you)_

He covered his brother's nakedness with a towel and ran back out to the bedroom and grabbed the phone and dialed Kaiba's personal doctor and said:

_There's two through my hands,_

_And one through my feet._

_From this cross that I'll bear,_

_Till the day that I see._

_It's guilt and it's blame,_

_It's shame and it's hell._

_Seeking the truth,_

_I've dug them myself._

"Seto had the attack again! He passed out this time! Get over here now!!!"

_All these holes dig in and surround me,_

_God knows what I'm gonna do._

_To fill in these holes left by you._

"We'll be right there."

_Left by you._

"You better be!" Mokuba spat and slammed the phone down.

_Left by you._

He ran back to his brother.

_Left by you._

A tear slid down his cheek as he lifted his brother's head and found blood and cried even harder.

"Don't die on me, Seto!"

_Left by you._

(II)

Serenity pulled over as a hospital van came racing by, going the same way she was. Maybe it was someone else; there are some other houses on the way to Kai's.

Serenity followed the van and it still didn't veer off of the path to Kai's mansion.

When it pulled into the drive Serenity knew only one thing could have happened.

Kai had another attack!

(II)

Ha!! Another cliffhanger!! Sorry it took so look to get this chapie out! I had school work to get finished!! C-you next chapter!!

_Ice_


	3. The Attack!

Yes, yes! You may bash me if you want! I can't believe it's been that long since I've written anything for this story! Thanks for still hanging with me! Marching Band had started up again and I have the solo this year! Well, I know you want to read this, so I'll let you…

_Ice_

_(REWRITE!!)_

p.s.- I have redone some stuff in the first 2 chapters, just the dates, like 8/22/06, for ex. But nothing you really have to read over. You can if you want!

_**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN YU-GI-OH!!!**_

_Chapter Three—The Attack!_

"_Well we have a love I think that can't be broken by a diamond blade."—Fenix (My boyfriend)_

"Mokuba!" Serenity called out, making her way to Kaiba's bedroom, the paramedics were already ahead of her and she was rushing to keep up.

"Seren?" Mokuba stepped out of Kaiba's room to see a distressed Serenity running toward him.

"I know its Kai! Is he alright?"

Serenity was going to rush into his room, but Mokuba's arms stopped her from going any further.

"Let me go!" She hissed and continued to struggle against his grip.

"We can't see him; we'll just get in the way! Paramedics are with him, he'll be alright, you'll see!" Mokuba felt her calm down and released her. "I promise he'll be ok!"

Serenity stopped and turned around to face him, then started to cry. The dim pain in her chest was now ripping through her like fire. Everything in Serenity's body was in pain.

And then, before she knew it, her world went black, just as Kaiba's did.

(III)

"WHAT?!?"

"Joey, calm down, she's going to be fine!" Mokuba said into the phone's mouthpiece. "The medics said it was stress-related and she'll be fine by tomorrow."

"Can she come home?" Joey asked, gripping onto the phone for dear life.

"She can't be moved, she'll have to stay here tonight. But don't worry; I'll be here to watch her." Mokuba added when he heard Joey take a sharp breath.

"Alright," Joey had calmed down completely after hearing that. "I better go, I'll see if I can come by later."

"Okay, Joey. Bye." Mokuba hung up.

"Mr. Mokuba?" A paramedic tapped Mokuba on the shoulder, "We've stabilized your brother and Ms. Wheeler. They'll be fine tomorrow morning."

Mokuba let out a sigh, and the medic packed up and took his leave. Mokuba walked over to Kaiba's bed and looked at the two people laying in it.

"I warned you, Seto." Mokuba mumbled as he looked at Kaiba's sleeping face. Kaiba had a heart attack, a stress-related one. It wasn't the first time; Kaiba has had these attacks ever since he took over the company from his step-father. His heart wasn't weak, but each time Kaiba had one, more medication was used to stabilize him than the last time.

Kaiba was doing well the past couple of months, trying to come home earlier, going to bed, and not pulling anymore all-nighters. But something that had happened last night just put him over the edge and Mokuba had a feeling that it was caused by the person laying right next to him.

He sighed, _but why did Serenity feint?_ He asked himself. He always knew that Serenity was connected to Kaiba somehow, but, to almost have a heart attack the same time Kaiba was…yes, their friendship was deep, but…how?

Good thing Serenity never had the heart attack; it subsided just when Kaiba's was over. She just feinted, that's all.

Plus, if Mokuba told that to Joey, he was pretty sure that _Joey_ would have had the heart attack for her.

"Please be ok…both of you."

(III)

'_Addressed to:  
__Tristan Taylor  
__7541 Domino Lane 6985  
__Domino City, Japan_

_Congratulations Mr. Taylor!_

_You have been accepted in the one of the Chain of Commerce College schools. Commerce of California University (CCU) has accepted you application and has agreed to take you as their student. Classes will begin in one week, take time to enroll; and we wish you best of luck with your Vet Major._

_Amber Fiscal_

_Chain of Commerce Board of Trustees'_

_Oh, crap! I didn't think I would get accepted this year!_ Tristan thought as he walked up to his house and unlocked the door. _Wow, classes start in one week? Serenity's not going to like this…_

He dug for his cell phone out of his pocket, and scrolled through the numbers, until he found the one he was looking for.

Ring…

Ring…

Ring…

Ring…

"Hello?"

_Wait, this isn't Serenity's voice!_

"May I speak with Serenity please?" He asked.

"She's not available at the moment." The voice said.

(III)

Mokuba sighed as he went through more documents on his brother's laptop. Since he was the vice president of Kaiba Corp. then he had to work while his brother was out…or sick in this case.

He kept looking up at his brother and Serenity, they weren't going to wake up until tomorrow morning, those paramedics sure did a good job giving then enough sleeping medication.

Mokuba sighed again and got back to work, that is, until he heard something ringing.

Ring…

It seemed like it was coming from Serenity's purse, which was on the nightstand next to her.

Ring…

Ring…

Mokuba finally found it through the contents of her purse.

Ring…

"Hello?" He answered.

"May I speak with Serenity please?" The voice on the other line asked.

Mokuba looked over at her. "She's not available at the moment." He said, feeling sorry for her.

A few seconds of silence until, "Who is this?"

Mokuba frowned, "this is Mokuba Kaiba, whom might I ask is this?"

"Oh, hey, Mokuba, it's Tristan."

Mokuba bit his lip. "Oh, hey."

"Where's Serenity?" He asked the dreaded question. So, like a good friend, Mokuba told Tristan the entire story. Except for his suspicions that Kaiba and Serenity were connected somehow, and about where _she_ was about to have a heart attack as well.

Tristan was silent at first, speechless, as to say, then he calmly repeated what Joey said hours before.

"What?"

"I'm sorry Tristan, you can come by and see her if you like, and Joey said he was going to come later." Tristan agreed and said he would be right over, and would pick up Joey on the way, since Serenity took his truck in the first place.

Mokuba hung up the phone and placed it back into Serenity's purse. _This is going to be a long day…_He thought, walking back over to Kaiba's laptop and completing more documents.

(III)

It was only about an hour before Tristan and Joey stopped by, Mai decided to tag along with them to see how Serenity was doing.

Joey was silent the whole time, while Mai was comforting him, telling him that she would be ok by tomorrow. Tristan was by her side, holding her had and talking quietly to her.

Then Joey noticed something sticking out from Tristan's back pocket.

He grabbed it, "Hey, Tristan, what's this?"

Tristan tried to grab it back, but to no avail.

"You're going to the states?" He asked, looking up from the letter and staring Tristan straight in the eye. "How come you never told us?"

"I just got the letter today; I was going to tell Serenity first, but…" His voice trailed off and he went back to Serenity's side.

"Tristan…" Joey put a hand on Tristan's shoulder, "look man, if you want me to tell her, I will."

"Thanks, but I think this is something I need to do on my own." Tristan replied, even more heartbroken than ever before.

_Please be ok, Serenity, I love you…_

(III)

Hehe! What's going to happen next! Sorry the chapie's so short, I wanted to wait until next chapter for Serenity to wake up in. AND I'm sorry that I haven't updated in like FOREVER!!! I told you, bash me at will! Well, its almost 1am where I'm at, so I'll type to ya'll later!!

_Ice_


	4. Connection

Hey! Wow, it's been almost a year since I've updated, oh well, better late than never right? I HAVE REDONE THE FIRST THREE CHAPTERS, YET AGAIN, AND YOU MAY WANT TO READ IT AGAIN SINCE IT HAS BEEN A YEAR…

Well, thanks reviewers!! And enjoy!!

_Sailor Dark/Ice_

_**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN YU-GI-OH!!!**_

_Chapter Four—Connected_

"'_Cause it's You & Me…"—You & Me, Lifehouse (song)_

Serenity woke, opening her eyes slowly to the rising sun peeking through the windows. _Where am I?_ She thought using her elbows to prop herself up on the bed she was laying on. A dim pain still in her chest.

The memories came back in a sudden flush.

_Wait…Kai!!_ She looked on the other side of the bed and found him sleeping as well.

Impure thoughts started to creep into her head, and she blushed and looked about the room, she's been in here many times before, but it suddenly became more interesting when you were trying to keep your mind off of things…

Kaiba coughed and turned on his side, toward her. Serenity snapped her attention back to him and saw the he was still sleeping.

She was about to get up when Kaiba's arm snaked its way around her waist. "Don't…go…" He mumbled, sleep-talking.

Serenity couldn't help but smile and brushed a few loose hairs away from his eyes, or eyelids I should say, and proceeded to carefully take his arm from her body. Thinking all the way how cute he looked while he was sleeping.

After she had successfully gotten out of his grip, Serenity rose from the bed and lifted her arms above her head and stretched. The pain was all but a steady dull throb now, and Serenity figured that she would have to take it easy today.

"Don't……go…" Kaiba's voice was but a whisper, and Serenity turned to look back at him. He was still sleep-talking.

"Hmm…" Serenity slipped on her shoes, which she found beside the bed, and decided to call in sick for work, since the dull ache was still there.

She used a blanket at the end of the bed to cover Kaiba up with and silently crept from the room, taking one last glance at the 25 year old sleeping peacefully on the bed.

"Seren?" Serenity gasped and turned around from Kaiba's door.

Mokuba was standing there, a bag of potato chips in his hands.

"Oh, Mokuba, you scared me!" Serenity said, then began to rummage through her purse, looking for her cell phone and truck keys.

"They took you're truck yesterday. Joey said that he needed it to go to work early today." Mokuba answered her unspoken question.

"Oh," Serenity took out her cell phone and sighed. "What happened yesterday, Mokuba? I remember chest pains, something being wrong with Kai, but that's it."

"Oh." Mokuba echoed, "that."

He sighed before answering.

"He…Seto…had a stress-related heart attack."

"What?! Oh, I knew something was wrong…" Serenity mumbled.

"That's not the weird part." Mokuba placed a chip in his mouth.

Serenity waited for Mokuba to continue.

"You came running to Seto's room, and you said that you had to see him, but, I checked his phone…" This earned a stern look from Serenity. "…and you…weren't on his list. You never talked to each other…so how did you know that something was wrong, Seren?"

"I…" Serenity paused. How did she know? All she felt was a pain in her chest, and the closer she got to Kai, the more it hurt.

"I-I'm not…sure…" She said and started to walk away from Mokuba, she needed to call her work soon and possibly talked to Mai about this. Tristan wouldn't understand.

"Wait." Mokuba's voice stopped her at the top of the stairs.

"The other thing is…" A pause.

"You almost had a heart attack too."

(IV)

Joey was stripping the sheets off his bed when it happened.

The glittering gold band of promise around his third finger came flying off his hand, and where it landed…

…only God knew.

"Oh shit!" Joey dropped the sheets a box beside the bed and looked around his feet, careful not to step on it. If he did, it would never be the same circular shape that he liked so much.

"I knew I should've taken it off before I started packing…"

The ring wasn't loose around his finger, it was just when he sweated, or did a whole lot of work that it decides to come off.

And this wasn't the first time that it became "almost" lost. One time, he lost it for a week, and had to stay away from Mai for the whole duration while trying to find it. Well, she eventually found out…and let's just say that she wasn't a happy camper.

"Oh man, oh man, oh man…" Joey kept repeating the two words as he got down on his knees and looked under his bed for the precious ring.

Well, not under there, he was going in for a better look until—

"What are you doing under there?"

It was Mai.

"H-hey, I thought you were coming by at 5?" Joey got up from his search, rubbing the sore spot on his head, Mai had surprised him.

Mai laughed and pointed to Joey's still-plugged in clock. "It _is_ 5, honey."

"Oh," Joey said sheepishly as he unplugged the clock and put it in the same box as the sheets.

"Ready to go?" She asked, looking around the mostly barren room.

"Uh, yeah, we can get the rest of the stuff after we get Serenity." Joey answered.

"Sure." Mai beamed and pulled her beamer car keys from her pocket, "let's go."

(IV)

Serenity sat on the doorsteps of the Kaiba mansion. She called her boss, and said she was sick. She didn't even bother calling Joey, she knew he would come.

She needed to clear her head anyway.

She's been out here for about an hour now. Kaiba had already gone to work. He didn't come out the front door, but a helicopter flew away from the top of his roof awhile ago, and she presumed that it was his way of travel for today.

She couldn't blame him. He _did_ have a heart attack right in front of her eyes yesterday.

But, besides the sleep-talk, Kaiba did talk to her, fully awake, after the whole IM-ing accident. Though it wasn't her fault, she blamed herself, as she always did, except for Mai and Joey's wedding of course.

Actually, after that, she really hadn't seen any of her friends, and the wedding was about a year about this weekend. For a split second, she was glad that Joey was moving out of her house, she didn't need to hear their…relations…

Serenity rolled her eyes at her thoughts when Joey's truck pulled up, the truck that she had borrowed yesterday in fact, with Mai in the seat next to him, and boxes full of his items in the back.

"Hey," Serenity waved to them, grabbed her stuff, and walked over to the vehicle.

(IV)

(Three hours later…)

It was any ol' normal workday at the desk of Seto Kaiba except—

He was staring at a water bottle.

Why, do you ask, is he staring at a water bottle? Well…

_I am _so _bored, I think I'm going to barf_. He thought.

That was why.

Kaiba had already finished all his paperwork for the day, and was going to take a drink from his trusty water bottle, but then he noticed that the bottle was circular…just like…

_Her engagement ring…_

Kaiba sighed, he was sorry that he ever snapped at her through the IMs the other night, but, when she typed that she was _engaged_…it was too much to handle.

So, now your asking, wow, does he like her?

Well, it's a yes and no answer, see, he _cares_ for her, but he wanted her to be happy.

_Great_, he thought. _Now I'm starting to act like Yugi Motou…_

It wasn't a surprise to Kaiba that he had that heart attack yesterday, it was a long way coming, ever since Joey leaked that Tristan was going to propose soon.

Ahh, Joey, the mutt, well, not much anymore, the "enemies" were on some sort of truce now, they stopped calling each other names, and even said a kind word to the other every now and then. It wasn't a friendship yet, but, it was on its way…

Kaiba finally took a sip of the water, then twisted the cap back on, and set it down. The water sloshed around a bit, and then finally settled down.

_I wish my stomach would take note…_Kaiba's stomach always upset him the day after his heart attack, sometimes he wouldn't even notice, but this time, it was real bad…

And then…

Kaiba coughed, blinked rapidly, and then rushed to his private bathroom next to his office. Then got violently sick right as he reached the toilet.

The sickness mostly consisted of his lunch, and Kaiba turned his head away, grabbing a wash cloth and wiping his lips and flushed the toilet.

It came up again and Kaiba wiped his lips for a second time, but, before he flushed again, he noticed something in the sickness that wasn't there before…

Blood.

(IV)

Wow! Can you believe it! Something else is the matter with our favorite blue-eyed genius. Well, that's what he gets for eluding it for so long…

Um, like I said, updates won't be so fast, marching season…

_Sailor Dark/Ice_


	5. Unexplainable Things

Yeah I know, it's been prolly another year…been working, and school's about to start up again. I really don't know if anyone's even reading this anymore. I can't blame y'all, it's been way too long.

_Ice_

_**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN YU-GI-OH!!**_

_Chapter Five—Unexplainable Things_

"_Sweet Kiwi…your juices dripping down my chin…"—"Kiwi", Maroon 5 (song)_

"What do you mean you lost it?!" Mai screeched, looking in all the boxes of Joey's things that were nearest her fingertips. Tears of anger were in her eyes.

Serenity watched them, amused. They had taken her to Mai's house, _their_ house, to unpack Joey's things. Mai gave her a direct order to sit in a chair and do absolutely nothing.

"I…I…" Joey struggled for words as he looked in the box that he had packed his bed sheets in, exactly what he was doing before the incident happened.

Serenity rolled her eyes and shook her head, still smiling. _Joey always looses things, and him being married isn't going to solve the problem_, she thought.

Her thoughts then drifted by to Kai.

The weird connection between them that Mokuba explained to her was odd. Of course her and Kaiba were close…plus, a bond had formed between Yugi and Yami anyway…so what was the problem?

_Well_, she thought, _Kai and I didn't share a body either…_

But there had to be something else. Tristan wasn't connected to her like that, and she was getting married to the guy!

Sigh, Tristan…She immediately smiled wider, and looked down at her engagement ring. She remembered the night, it was perfect. Except for…

_Arg! I need to stop thinking about Kai!_ She shook her head again, but to rid her of thoughts.

Then she heard an almost silent '_plink_' hit the hardwood floor of the living room.

She cocked her head and focused in the direction in which she heard the sound.

"Joey." She got his attention. "I heard something."

"What?"

She didn't answer, instead, she slid out of the chair and onto the floor, moving her hands all around so she would see with her hands as well as her eyes.

Serenity then lifted a pillowcase off the floor very carefully and took a peek inside, then rolled her eyes, stood up, and handed the case to Joey.

"Here."

Joey glanced inside and stuck his hand in, pulling out his wedding band.

Mai collapsed in the chair that Serenity was sitting in. "Oh thank goodness. Thanks Seren, I didn't want to buy _another_ one…" She glared at Joey, who smiled sheepishly.

Truth be told…this was Joey's _third_ wedding band…

Serenity forced a laugh and gave Joey a pat on the back, before turning wordlessly and leaving the room.

Joey turned towards Mai and she shrugged her shoulders.

"Let her be Joey, something's are better unexplained."

He only nodded.

(V)

Kaiba growled and chunked that water bottle in the trash then wiped his lips again, more blood.

He just gave up and stood very still and closed his eyes, holding the cloth over his mouth.

It didn't work.

Kaiba's chest heaved as he coughed again. He could feel the blood burning in his throat.

He grabbed his cell phone off his desk and called his doctor.

"…yeah, blood again…no, not this time…I need you to run some tests…yes again…just run the damn tests—"

He coughed again.

"No don't come here…go to the mansion, I'll meet you there."

He snapped the phone shut, shoving it in his pocket. He shut his computer down, and locked everything up.

He barked at his secretary to have his 'copter waiting when he got to the roof, she tremble, but complied.

The blades were spinning fast by the time he got up there, and he slid the door shut behind him when he got in, buckled his seatbelt, and ordered the pilot to take him home.

The helicopter was not the best idea for his already upset stomach, and Kaiba had to look at his knees the whole way there, but it was much faster than a car.

He coughed twice more before he made it back to the mansion.

(V)

Serenity's stomach was churning again.

_Oh great…_

She had just gotten it to settle down, and she hadn't even eaten anything!

Maybe that was the problem.

She sighed and held her stomach all the way to the kitchen. Joey and Mai had left about an hour ago. They went to go get the last bit of Joey's things. They were going to take her home, but Serenity decided she wanted to stay hear tonight, plus, Joey could use his new car. Mai had surprised him before she found out that he lost his ring again.

The thought made her laugh, but not without coughing at the end.

As she struggled to get her air back, Serenity managed to find the bowls and a cereal to her liking.

She grabbed a spoon from a drawer and scooped the dry cereal into her mouth. She decided to skip on the milk, cold things tended to upset her stomach even more.

"Uhhh," the moan escaped her lips and she dropped her spoon to use both arms to grab her stomach. The pain was worse. She coughed again, nothing coming up, just dry heaves, but it felt like she was trying to get all the organs out of her body.

What was wrong with her? Joey had insisted on taking her temperature and things of that nature when they arrived at the house. She was fine. What is her body trying to tell her?

Her eyes snapped open.

"K…Kai…" She struggled to say his name through gritted teeth. This was the only unexplainable explanation, something was wrong with Kai…again…

What was with this bond?

Serenity sank down to the tiled floor, waiting for the pain to pass, all thoughts focused on Kaiba. She couldn't move anymore, she could only wait for it to pass.

Then she would call Kai.

(V)

Tristan chewed on his bottom lip while waiting for the light to turn green. The letter was lying on the seat next to him. He had to tell Serenity, he was hoping that they would get married in a few months. Nothing big or fancy, just a small wedding.

But going to school would change everything.

But he could always suggest getting married sooner…

That was it! They could get married by the end of this week, just have Joey or someone witness it, then have a real wedding when he came back.

He half-smiled, maybe that would work. I mean, they were both clearly ready to get married…

Rock crunched under his tires as he came to a halt beside Joey's truck. For some reason, he knew that Serenity would be here, she was never alone when she got sick.

(V)

The pain was fading, and quickly too.

Serenity took a deep breath. _Ah, finally._ She thought, picking herself up off the floor.

She had just about made it to the couch when Tristan walked into the living room.

"Hey," Serenity said, happy to see him. He smiled tenderly before crossing the room to hug her.

He pulled back quickly…much to quickly.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

He sighed. "You know me way to well, huh Serenity?"

She nodded, urging him to go on

"Well, I have something to tell you…" He pulled the letter from his back pocket, slowly reaching out to give it to her.

She only cocked her head to the side and took the letter from his hands.

(V)

Alright, so it wasn't the best chapie, a filler really, but u always have a filler. Again, don't know when the next one will be out.

_Ice_


	6. A Different Kind of Death

Alright, I want to finish this story before I start on anything else, so I'm gonna start trying to type this in the middle of the night, after I get off of work.

_Ice_

_**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN YU-GI-OH!!**_

_Chapter Six—A Different Kind of Death_

"_I swear it's you, I swear its you, that I waited for. And I swear its you, I swear its you, that my heart beats for…and it just Won't Stop…"—"Won't Stop", OneRepublic (song)_

She was outside on Mai and Joey's deck, leaning against the wooden rail, just thinking. It was a clear night, but her thoughts were far from clear. The stars shined brilliantly, and the moonlight turned her skin a delicate pale color.

She was emotionless.

Serenity didn't say a word to Tristan after she read the letter; the initial shock of the whole situation was bothering her…and stressing her out. First Kai's sick, then Joey moving out, now her fiancé was leaving…

She could always ask her brother to stay…but Serenity knew in her heart that Joey's been living with her long enough. It was time that he started living with the one he married, as funny as that sounds, not his scared little sister who was once blind.

Besides, it's not like he was an hour away or something like that. It was a ten minute drive from her apartment to their house.

She shivered…_her_ apartment…_their_ house…

Serenity forced her thoughts back on the task at hand. Tristan wasn't going to be gone forever, and if she picked up and painted more often, she could buy a plane ticket and go and see him.

A tear rolled down her cheek when the shock finally drifted away and the realization set in. He was going to go to the states, to a school he'd always wanted to go to. Keeping him here with her…begging him to stay was selfish. He wanted this…and she was going to cry at the plane later when he waved his last wave at her.

She propped her elbows on the rail and covered her face with her hands and sobbed. Something inside her snapped, like a rubber band that had been stretched once too many. Everything suddenly felt different. Unrecognizably different…

Serenity took her hands away from her face, and looked at the golden band on her finger. And her heart welled up with joy.

Of course she would wait. Tristan was worth that.

She glanced at the ring one last time before her eyes slid to her watch.

She immediately ran back inside to the living room, where she had left Tristan.

He was still there, and he stood from the couch when she rushed in.

"I'm sorry!" She said as she grabbed her purse and keys from the table by the couch. "I'm late for my last night class!"

"O-oh, okay." Tristan mumbled, crestfallen that that's all it was.

"I'm sorry, I'll be back later." She said from the door, yanking it open and rushing out before he could say another word.

Tristan hung his head and sat back down on the couch, confused. He hadn't told her about the "let's get married in a week" thing, afraid to after the shock that had shown on her face.

A few minutes later, he heard the crunching of rocks on a different set of tires and at once he knew that Joey and Mai were back.

(VI)

The doctor flinched away from Seto Kaiba's glare as he walked over to explain the test results to him. He had to take a deep breath to make sure his voice would work before speaking.

"Well?" Kaiba growled.

They were in Kaiba's home office, but it didn't look much like an office now. Medical knick-knacks and things of that sort were scattered all over Kaiba's desk, and other machines filled the once-empty spaces, all brought over from the hospital.

The doctor cleared his throat.

"Well, we know that it's not terminal and it can't carry on through any bloodlines…but this interests even me—"

"Are you saying that you don't know what it is?" Kaiba snapped and his chair creaked when he stood.

"Um, well yes and no—"

"Is it curable?"

"That we're not sure of."

Kaiba sighed, and plopped back down on his chair, waving his hand for the doctor to go on.

"Most of it is stress-related…was there something that happened very recently that could've set it off?"

Kaiba bit the inside of his bottom lip. Everything was running smoothly at work, the new visualized dual disks were completed…it was even shipped out this morning, with no hitch, which surprised but pleased Kaiba greatly…

He began to remember back further…when he had the attack for the very first time…

"_Excuse me!"_

_She turned around at the last second to avoid being hit. Her face was emotionless, almost to the point of turning painful. The woman had shoved her out of the way, just to get a good look at him._

_The woman gave her not even a backwards glance as she walked straight up to Kaiba._

"_Hello," she tried to make her voice sound sultry. "I couldn't help but notice that you were looking at me, and…"_

_Kaiba didn't hear anymore, he had his eyes fixed on the red-haired wonder that the rude woman had shoved out of the way. Of course he knew exactly who she was. He couldn't help but look. She had changed so much…_

_Kaiba was brought back to reality by cold water splashing his face._

_He was walking pretty close to the edge of the road, and that was his fault, but the woman was drenched too, and she looked angry._

"_How dare that guy!" She screeched, and then turned back to him. "Aren't you going to do anything?" The words "sue him" were all over her face._

_He had to drag his eyes away from Serenity, and his eyes turned cold. "No," he said to the woman. "And you best get out of my sight, before I sue you of pushing down that poor woman there."_

_The woman turned and finally took a glance of Serenity._

"_You like that? Yuck, I thought the great Seto Kaiba had a better taste in women."_

"_Anything's better than you." He retorted, agitated._

_The woman "humpt" at him and walked away without anything else to say, Kaiba was glad for the piece and quiet. And he went over to see Serenity._

_Serenity turned and looked at him before he had reached her. His eyes hard._

"_That woman won't bother you again." Then he left._

_Serenity stared after him, confusion and shock written all over her face._

_Kaiba glanced at her one last time before turning completely around and returning to his work place._

"No, it couldn't be because of her…" Kaiba mumbled, and many other things had gone wrong that day. He had to talk to Joey Wheeler for reasons he couldn't recall now…the new dual disks were going all wrong…he had fired three people…Mokuba had decided to stay out all night with friends and never called, which worried him…all the numbers on his documents were wrong…

"What was that?" The doctor asked, puzzled.

"Nothing, nothing…" He waved his hand again. "Could this be because of a person?"

"Mostly no, but there have been some special cases…"

"Like?"

"Emotional distraction is what triggers it off. Sudden mood swings are the key. If you're stressed, and you suddenly feel something that has nothing to do with the stress, it only adds to the stress."

"So what if the emotional distraction is solved?" 'What if I could get over Serenity and not think about her anymore?' is what he really wanted to ask.

"Then the problem with the coughing up blood would be solved. So it's curable in a since. You can either get away from the person completely, or solve the problem with the person."

That seemed simple enough.

"But if you continue to place yourself in this situation, you'll eventually loose enough blood to be hospitalized, and the thing is, you never know when you've lost too much body, unless by the occasional dizzy spells."

"So you're saying," Kaiba placed his hands together on his desk, "that if I continue this way, I'll eventually cough myself to death?"

The doctor nodded a yes.

What a completely _stupid_ way to die.

But it _was_ a way to die.

_Great!_ Kaiba thought, dismissing the doctor, who began to gather his things. _Of all the things…it's a _woman _that's killing me…_

Well, something like this couldn't be solved if she was going to get married to Tristan, so he only had the other option…

Which would only tear him apart.

He heard the door close and looked around; he must've been sitting there a good 30 minutes for the doctor to gather his things and leave. His office was spotless again, like the doctor had never made a visit. He continued his thoughts…

He could barely go one day without seeing her smiling face, how could he go the rest of his life?

Oh yes, he had realized a long time ago that he had fallen in love with her…years ago…why he didn't act on it sooner, he didn't know, but it was worth seeing her happy…he just wanted her to be happy, even if it was with another man…

"Kai?"

He head snapped up, and there was his smiling girl…

…almost in tears.

(VI)

Serenity quickly tore out of the driveway before Tristan could follow her. She didn't want to confront him yet…just not yet…

She checked the clock on the dash.

"Crap!" She was later than she thought and she pushed the gas petal a little harder.

Going to night class was something she really didn't want to do right now, she had taken her exam early and didn't really care if she passed, a few more months and she would be graduated.

She thought about the pain in her stomach last night and the coughing…maybe she should go and check to see if Kai was okay. Wouldn't hurt, plus, it's been awhile since they've hung out.

Serenity was at his mansion before she knew it, and she punched in the pass code to the gates. They opened obediently and she drove in slowly, getting closer and closer to tears.

She _had_ to talk to Kai. He was the only one that could calm her completely, without a brotherly-feel to it like Tristan or Joey gave. She swore sometimes she thought she was going to marry her brother…

The doorbell rang out when she pushed it, and she was hoping that the man himself would answer…but she couldn't remember the last time he answered his own door…

"Yes?" A voice brought her back and she was face to face with the cook.

"Hey, I hope Kaiba's not working late, is he?" She tried to make her voice light.

"No, no he's here." The cook grinned. Serenity smiled back, remembering when she would make late night visits. More than others, Kaiba would still be at the office and he would seat her in the kitchen while cleaning up to talk to her.

He opened the door wider, beckoning her in. "You know the way to his office, unless you've forgotten."

Serenity laughed, "It hasn't been that long, and I think I remember."

"Alright." He gave her one last smile before returning to the kitchen.

Serenity sighed and made her way up the stairs to each floor. Stopping in front of two French doors at the end of the hallway on the fifth floor…if she hadn't have been here millions of times before she probably would've gotten lost. This house was a maze!

The tears were welling up now and she tried to hold them back, but the tears were slowing winning.

Serenity pushed the doors open, not bothering to knock, as had been their custom for the past six years.

"Kai?" She asked softly.

She saw his head snap up and he took her in. His eyes were red, and for the first time in her life, he looked frazzled and frail, like something horrible had just happened.

Serenity bit her lip, "Maybe this isn't the best time…" She trailed off.

"No, no." Kaiba forced a smile. "It's fine. What do you need?"

"I just need…to talk to someone other than Tristan or Joey…"

"Oh," Kaiba removed himself from his chair and walked over to the couch by the wall and motioned with his hand for her to sit down with him.

She complied, happy that he wasn't too stressed out.

"What is it?" He asked again, seeing the tears finally slipping from her eyes. He reached up and brushed them away from her cheek.

But as soon as his fingers made contact with her skin, a shock went through him, and her too from the way she jerked away from him and looked at him through wide eyes.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "Must've been electricity."

But they both knew that it was something more.

Serenity shook her head to clear her thoughts. "I have to tell you something about Tristan."

"Oh?"

"He's leaving, going to the states, he got accepted into the college he wanted to go to…"

"Well that's great, isn't it?" Kaiba whispered.

"Yeah…" She turned to face him. "I really want him to stay…am I being selfish?"

Kaiba smiled for real this time. "Well, of course—"

She play punched him in the arm.

"—but it's natural for you to want the one you love to stay with you." _Kind of like how I don't want to stay away from you…_he added in his head.

She lifted her eyebrows, "when did you become all sensitive?"

He shrugged his shoulders, being honest, "Since I met you I guess."

Her mouth opened a bit.

He couldn't breathe…her lips, just so close…but yet, so far away…and belonging to another man.

She fidgeted, but didn't move away. Kaiba parted his lips slightly, coming even closer to her face…

"K-Kai?"

"Hmm?" He could feel her breath now.

She was going to protest, say that this wasn't right. But this felt so much more sentimental, than when Tristan leaned in to kiss her…

His lips were touching hers now, and her breathing hitched.

The kiss was slow and nervous, but he placed his hand on the back of her hand, drawing her even closer.

Serenity definitely wasn't planned for her reaction.

A soft 'plunk' was heard by neither of them when her hands immediately came up and twisted into his hair, kissing him back fiercely. Her mouth molded in different ways than before, with Tristan. Kaiba kissed her back just as fierce, slowly laying her down on the couch.

Nothing had happened between her and Tristan like this…not so much—passion!

Something broke inside her, and new waves of feelings began to course through her, not new feelings, just unexplored feelings…

She tried to stifle a moan as he raised her shirt a small amount, just to brush his fingertips across her stomach. The heat from his fingertips sent a fire coursing through her, a very desirable fire…

"Seto…" She sighed his name, his true name.

But that brought him back to reality.

He broke the kiss abruptly, and moved off of her and away from the couch. His eyes hard and cold.

Serenity opened her eyes to see him facing away from her; she could tell his arms were crossed.

"I think you should go." His voice sound harsh, nothing like anything before.

She was even worse off than when she even came. Serenity was so confused. What was wrong with her? Did she do something wrong?

"What—" She started to ask.

"Just go."

She bit her lip to keep from crying, grabbed her keys from off the floor and practically ran from the room in tears. She didn't stop until she made it to Joey's truck. She slipped inside and threw herself on the steering wheel, completely distraught.

"What have I done?" She whispered.

(VI)

Things are starting to heat up now! Keep watch, I'm getting back into this…

_Ice_


End file.
